作者:Stephen Cooney
Industry Specialist
Resources, Science, and Industry Division
Summary
China is both the fastest growing motor vehicle market and the fastest growing
vehicle producer. Output and sales have grown from less than two million vehicles
annually before 2000 to nearly six million vehicles in 2005. In the number of
vehicles that it manufactures China has passed Korea and France, is on pace to
overtake Germany, and would then trail only the United States and Japan. A
disproportionate share of China’s output has always been heavy vehicles, but since
2000, China’s growth has been led by the increase in passenger cars. They now
account for about half of China’s production.
China exports or imports few motor vehicles: less than 200,000 of each.
Exports are growing much more rapidly than imports and are mostly light trucks
shipped to developing country markets in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. China’s
industry has developed extensively with the aid of foreign direct investment, unlike
those of Korea and Japan. This investment has been from major international
automobile manufacturers, led by General Motors (GM), that are unlikely to promote
Chinese exports in competition with their own products in other markets. As a
consequence, the Chinese companies that have expressed an interest in exporting cars
are those who are less dependent on such cooperation and may struggle to meet
safety and emission standards in industrial countries. Most experts do not see a high
volume of exports from China into these markets in the near future.
By contrast, Chinese auto parts exports are already making inroads into the
United States. While U.S. motor vehicle trade with China was insignificant in 2005,
the United States imported $5.4 billion in parts from China, while it exported about
one-tenth of that amount. China accounted for about 6% of U.S. auto parts imports
in 2005, but the amount has quadrupled since 2000. Many of these imports are
aimed at the aftermarket, as most of what China now exports to the U.S. market are
standard products such as wheels, brake parts and electronics. But with high rates of
investment in China by the leading U.S. manufacturers of both cars and parts, major
companies such as GM look to increase sourcing from China.
The Bush Administration has noted that the new Chinese auto policy announced
in 2004 eliminated practices not compatible with China’s commitments as a member
of the World Trade Organization (WTO). However, this policy maintains a limit of
no more than 50% ownership by any foreign investor in a motor vehicle
manufacturing joint venture in China. Moreover, the Administration has filed a
WTO case alleging discriminatory Chinese application of tariffs on automotive parts.
Congress has been concerned with broad policies giving Chinese exporters
unfair trade advantages. The Senate approved a bill, added as an amendment to
other legislation, that would place a high tariff on Chinese imports unless China
revalues its pegged exchange rate (S. 295). Further action has been postponed on this
measure. Legislation to allow U.S. producers to bring countervailing duty cases
against Chinese firms subsidized by their government has been approved in the
House (H.R. 3283), and a new law has tightened rules against trade in counterfeited
goods (P.L. 109-181). This report will not be updated.
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
China Becomes a Major Motor Vehicle Producer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Foreign Investors in Chinese Motor Vehicle Industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
General Motors Now the Market Leader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Independent Production vs. Foreign Cooperation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Impact of China on the U.S. Automotive Market . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Chinese-Made Vehicles Not Imminent Factor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Major Chinese Impact in Automotive Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Competitive Labor Costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
U.S. Policy Issues in Economic Relations with China . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Administration Focus on Chinese Auto Sector Commitments . . . . . . . . . . 18
Congressional Concerns with Competition from China . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
List of Figures
Figure 1. Leading Motor Vehicle Producers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Figure 2. Chinese Motor Vehicle Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
List of Tables
Table 1. Motor Vehicle Sales in China . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Table 2. U.S.-China Automotive Trade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14